Manufacture of salad oil



Patented Jan. 29, 1946 MANUFACTURE OF SALAD 01L Leo C. Brown, Chicago, Ill.,

assignor to Industrial Patents Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application September 30, 194, Serial No. 556,684

5 Claims. (Cl. 99-118) The present invention relates to a process of Winterizing salad oil and more particularly to such a process in which small amounts of phos phatides are employed.

Various vegetable oils are employed as salad oils, and of these cottonseed oil and corn oil are probably the most frequently employed. These vegetable oils are composed principally of a mixture of the glycerides of fatty acids, some of which are solid and some of which are liquid at ordinary temperatures. The normally solid glycerides are dissolved or entrained in the oils which are liquid at ordinary temperatures but tend to separate therefrom as solids or colloidal dispersions to the detriment of the oil when used for salad purposes. Stearine is the most prevalent of these normally solid glycerides. and the term when used hereinafter will be understood to include the other normally solid fats present in the oils.

For the above reason it has become a common commercial practice to subject the vegetable oil stock which contains both the liquid fats most suitable for use as a salad oil and the solid fats to a treatment known as Winterizing, to bring about a separation of these two types of constituents. This process consists of refrigerating the stock at temperatures usually between 40 and 50 F. until the higher melting constituents, such as stearine. crystallize out of the mixture and are then separated therefrom by straining. In general, however, the commercial Winterizing of vegetable oils is comparatively inefflcient and results in a poor separation of stearine from the oil because of the difficuity encountered in obtaining proper crystallizing conditions so as to produce sharply defined and well formed crystals. It is often found that the higher melting constituents will separate as extremely small partlcles or colloidal dispersions which are incapable of being separated from the liquid portion by means of ordinary straining procedures.

One of the primary objects of this invention is to provide a more complete separation between the normally liquid constituents of a vegetable oil, which are most desirable as a salad oil, and the normally solid higher melting constituents which have undesirable properties when present in a salad 011.

Another object of the invention is to provide a higher yield of salad oil from a given quantity of stock oil.

Still another object or the invention is to provide for a decrease in the amount of stearine present in a salad oil.

A still further object of the invention is to improve the straining of the normally liquid oil and stearine mixture present in an oil stock.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a winterized salad oil having an improved cold test.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide larger and more clearly defined and well formed crystals in an oil Winterizing process.

Another and further object of the present invention is to inhibit the crystallization during Winterizing of the constituents of a vegetable oil which are liquid at ordinary temperatures.

In the furtherance of these and other objects it has been found that if small amounts of phosphatides are added to the oil stock or parent oil before it is cooled, the form in which the crystals develop is greatly improved so that a subsequent separation of the solid from the normally liquid constituents of the vegetable oil is much sharper. It has been found also that only the harder materials tend to crystallize, solidification of the remainder being inhibited, which results in an appreciably increased yield of salad oil although the proportion of stearine therein is greatly decreased.

It is known that lecithin has been used in the past in small amounts to prolong the cold test of winterized salad oil. This was accomplished, however, by adding the phosphatides to a salad oil from which the stearine had already been separated by a Winterizing process and the present invention differs therefrom by utilizing phosphatides such as soya bean lecithin in the winterizing process itself in order to depress the formation of crystals of all but the higher melting constituents of the vegetable oil during the seeding or crystallizing process. At least a portion of the phosphatides used in this manner is carried over in the salad oil produced in suflicient quantities to bring about a desirable prolongation of the cold test of the winterized oil as mentioned above and this provides one of the desirable features of the invention.

It has been found that as little as one-tenth of one per cent of commercial phosphatides added to the vegetable 011 stock prior to cooling provides a pronounced beneficial result in the formation of strainable crystals of stearine and depression of the crystallization of the normally liquid constituents of the oil although larger amounts, for example up to 1 or 2% may be employed. In order to illustrate the instant invention there is presented the following examples:

Example 1 40 lbs. of soybean lecithin dissolved in 50 lbs. or cottonseed oil was further dissolved in 40,000 lbs, of regular cottonseed oil stock. This mixture was run into seeding tanks and held for 72 hours, with the temperature gradually decreased to 44 1*. There was obtained after straining the Example 2 40 lbs. oi soybean lecithin was dissolved in 40,000 lbs. or cottonseed oil stock by first dispersing in a small amount the oil and then dissolving in the major portion. the whole being subiected to refrigerating temperatures in a proper receptacle for a period or 96 hours, the final temperature oi the mix after the refrigeration period being 46 F. After subsequent straining. 84.9% yield of liquid oil was obtained, with a cold test of 16% hours. A control test covering this same oil containing no lecithin but handled in exactly the same fashion yielded 82.2% liquid oil, having a cold test of 11% hours.

While the commercial product known as soya bean lecithin has been specifically referred to in the above examples, other commercial phosphatides such as corn oil phosphatides are suitable. Both oi these commercial phosphatides are mixtures oi lecithin andcephalin dispersed in a protective carrier vegetable oil, the amount of carrier oil usually ranging between 30 and 40% oi the product. The actual amount oi phosphatides exclusive of carrier oil usable in the present invention will therefore range between approximately .05 and 1% on the basis oi the oil being winterized.

I am aware that one or more of the phosphatides referred to above may occur naturally in various crude vegetable oils. In my process a relined oil is used as is customary in the preparation of salad oils. In the refining process the naturally occurring phosphatides are removed. Accordingly, my results cannot be obtained by the conventional winterizing process since the required amount of phosphatides are not present.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the invention hereinbeiore set forth may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore, only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In the process of Winterizing a vegetable oil, including chilling and separating solid material therefrom, the improvement of adding a minor proportion of lecithin to the refined oil prior to chilling.

2. The process of Winterizing a vegetable oil which comprises adding at least oi phosphatides to the refined oil, chilling said oil containing said phosphatides, and separating the solid constituents crystallized lrom said oil.

3. The process of winterizing a vegetable oil which comprises adding from .05% to 1% of phosphatides to the refined oil, chilling said oil contalnlng said phosphatides, and separating the solid constituents crystallized from said oil.

4. In the process of Winterizing a vegetable oil including chilling and separating solid material therefrom, the improvement of adding a minor proportion of soya bean lecithin to the refined oil before chilling.

5. The process of Winterizing a vegetable oil which comprises-adding .1% to 2% of soya bean lecithin to the refined oil, chilling said oil containing said soya bean lecithin. and separating the solid constituents crystallized from said oil.

LEO C. BROWN.

Disclaimer [Oflicial Gazette February 17, 1948.]

MANUFACTURE or SALAD OIL. Patent filed Jan. 12, 1948, by the assignee,

I mineand 4 in said specification.

Example 1 40 lbs. of soybean lecithin dissolved in 50 lbs.

or cottonseed oil was further dissolved in 40,000

lbs. of regular cottonseed oil stock. This mixture was run into seeding tanks and held for 72 hours, with the temperature gradually decreased to 44 1*. There was obtained after straining the Example 2 40 lbs. oi soybean lecithin was dissolved in 40,000 lbs. or cottonseed oil stock by first dispersing in a small amount the oil and then dissolving in the major portion. the whole being subiected to refrigerating temperatures in a proper receptacle for a period or 96 hours, the final temperature oi the mix after the refrigeration period being 46 F. After subsequent straining. 84.9% yield of liquid oil was obtained, with a cold test of 16% hours. A control test covering this same oil containing no lecithin but handled in exactly the same fashion yielded 82.2% liquid oil, having a cold test of 11% hours.

While the commercial product known as soya bean lecithin has been specifically referred to in the above examples, other commercial phosphatides such as corn oil phosphatides are suitable. Both oi these commercial phosphatides are mixtures oi lecithin andcephalin dispersed in a protective carrier vegetable oil, the amount of carrier oil usually ranging between 30 and 40% oi the product. The actual amount oi phosphatides exclusive of carrier oil usable in the present invention will therefore range between approximately .05 and 1% on the basis oi the oil being winterized.

I am aware that one or more of the phosphatides referred to above may occur naturally in various crude vegetable oils. In my process a relined oil is used as is customary in the preparation of salad oils. In the refining process the naturally occurring phosphatides are removed. Accordingly, my results cannot be obtained by the conventional winterizing process since the required amount of phosphatides are not present.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the invention hereinbeiore set forth may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore, only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the ap- 15 pended claims.

I claim:

1. In the process of Winterizing a vegetable oil, including chilling and separating solid material therefrom, the improvement of adding a minor proportion of lecithin to the refined oil prior to chilling.

2. The process of Winterizing a vegetable oil which comprises adding at least 95% oi phosphatides to the refined oil, chilling said oil containing said phosphatides, and separating the solid constituents crystallized lrom said oil.

3. The process of winterizing a vegetable oil which comprises adding from .05% to 1% of phosphatides to the refined oil, chilling said oil containing said phosphatides, and separating the solid constituents crystallized from said oil.

4. In the process of Winterizing a vegetable oil including chilling and separating solid material therefrom, the improvement of adding a minor 5 proportion of soya bean lecithin to the refined oil before chilling.

5. The process of Winterizing a vegetable oil which comprises-adding .1% to 2% of soya bean lecithin to the refined oil, chilling said oil containing said soya bean lecithin. and separating the solid constituents crystallized from said oil.

LEO C. BROWN.

Disclaimer 2,393,744.Leo 0. Brown, Chicago, Ill.

dated Jan. 29 1946. trial Patents d'orpomtion.

Hereby enters this disclaimer to claims 1 [Oflicial Gazette February 17, 1948.]

MANUFACTURE or SALAD OIL. Patent Disclaimer filed Jan. 12, 1948, by the assignee, Indusand 4 in said specification. 

